Author Archives: Sarah

Healing Hibernation: a mid-winter retreat to deeply rest and replenish: gentle movement, restorative yoga and yoga nidra

Date: Sunday 19th January 2025
Time: 3.30pm – 6pm
Price: £25.00
Live online via Zoom

In the aftermath of all of the Christmas and New Year festivities, we can be left feeling somewhat exhausted and underwhelmed in the midst of January’s cold and grey days.

So this workshop will be an opportunity to rest and restore in the midst of these dark winter days, and to cozy up with blankets and bolsters in a series of deeply restful postures.

We will start with some gentle and somatic movement to release tightness and and holding which can become more common in the winter, allowing energy to flow more freely through the body again. From there we’ll allow the body to soak up some much-needed deep rest in a sequence of restorative poses to help recoup and restore our energy, followed by a long, deeply relaxing and restorative yoga nidra practice (deep yoga sleep).

The restorative sequence will help you to find a sense of profound inner stillness and to surrender any deeply held tension in the body. It will also be very beneficial if you are suffering from fatigue and depleted mental and physical energy and is a perfect practice for this time of year.

You will finish the practice feeling nourished, replenished, deeply rested and ready to move forward into the rest of winter, and the eventual blossoming of spring that lies ahead.

“Retire to the centre of your being, which is calmness”
– Paramahansa Yogananda

Please contact me to book a place or if you have any questions regarding the workshop.

Slow down Saturday: an afternoon of soothing yoga & deep rest to calm body & mind

Date: Saturday 12th October 2024
Time:  3.00pm – 5.30pm
Venue: The Canvas, 27 Old Ford Road, Bethnal Green, E2 9PJ
Cost: £30.00
Pre-booking required – please contact me to book

This afternoon is an opportunity to really slow down, take care of yourself and explore practices that soothe the mind, body and whole nervous system.

We are living in stressful, challenging and very busy times, and in order to stay calm and balanced we need to regularly carve out time to slow down, take care of ourselves and move away from all of the stimulation of the outside world.

This workshop will allow us to turn inwards, to rest and connect deeply to our body, breath, and present moment sensations.

In doing so, our mind can begin to quieten, our body can release deeply held tension and tightness and find more ease and our nervous system can begin to calm down and help us to feel safe, soothed and relaxed again.

We’ll begin the afternoon with a series of gentle, grounding, mindful and somatic movements to release stress and tension, allowing energy to flow freely but calmly through the body again.

We will also explore a number of soothing and calming practices, including breath work, mudras and self-massage, before eventually settling into some longer-held restorative poses to soak up some deep rest, and connect to a place of inner calm and stillness.

The afternoon will finish with a grounding and calming yoga nidra (deep yoga sleep) practice. Yoga nidra has been described as “an effortless state of restfulness in the form on a horizontal meditation that takes place just on the threshold of sleep.” (Uma Dinsmore Tuli)
Thirty minutes of yoga nidra is said to be the equivalent of three hours sleep and this practice is deeply nourishing and restorative.

By the end you will feel deeply rested, refreshed and recharged – ready to move forwards from a place of inner calm to navigate these ever busy and changing times.

 “Stillness is like water
moving deep inside the earth
seeping slowly between rocks
trickling down 
in the dark
a tide moving inwards.

Stillness is the space
between breaths
inside heartbeats
the silence of the gathering wave
that never breaks.”

Judith Prest

Sogyal Rinpoche, Tibetan Lama

Please contact me if you have any questions or would like to book a place.

Postnatal Yoga for Mums & Babies – 5 or 6 week course

Next Dates: 
Thursdays 9th January – 6th February 2025 – booking now open
Thursdays 13th February – 13th March 2025

Thursdays 27th March – 24th April 2025
More dates to be announced shortly
Time: 10:15 – 11:15
Cost: £70.00 for 5 week course/ £84.00 for 6 week course
Location: FieldWorks Dance, 274 Richmond Road, London E8 3QW
Pre-booking required for the 5 weeks – spaces are limited to ensure everyone feels comfortable and has enough space

A fun, engaging and relaxing class for mums & babies and a great way to get moving safely again after your pregnancy and birth

This 5 week course is specially designed to help with new mothers’ postnatal recovery whilst also allowing time for engaging, bonding and relaxing with baby.

The course is suitable for all news mums from 6+ weeks postnatal (8 weeks after a Caesarean birth) up until babies are fully crawling.

Each week the focus will be on helping new mothers to begin moving their body again in a safe and gentle way, to regain strength, to open and release areas of tightness and tension in the back, neck and shoulders, and to find space for relaxation. We will also include some gentle yoga stretches, movements and songs for babies.

The course will include movements and breath work to safely and gently tone the abdominal muscles from deep within, allowing them to ‘knit back’ together, and to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles in conjunction with the breath: a ‘closing of the body’ after pregnancy and labour.

The classes also focus on the re-alignment of the spine and pelvis, and encourage an awareness of posture in all movements, including the care and handling of babies.

An emphasis on the breath throughout the classes will help to develop a sense of wellbeing, and we build in time for relaxation so both mothers and babies feel nurtured.

We explore postures and practices mums can do with and without their babies so they can easily continue their yoga at home.

The classes will be informal, fun and relaxed, and mums are free to feed, change, comfort or soothe babies to sleep whenever necessary.

The benefits of regularly attending postnatal classes in the form of a course include:

  • the course allows us to build on practices and progress each week
  • regular attendance allows you to really feel the benefits of the practice
  • it also allows babies to feel more comfortable and at ease in the class, and with other babies
  • a regular group builds a greater sense of support and community amongst new mums and babies

The course is a great opportunity to reconnect with familiar faces from pregnancy yoga classes and to get to know other new mums in the local area, and many long-term friendships have been made in these classes.

Please contact me if you have any questions regarding the course or would like to book a place.

T&Cs: please note that the course is non-refundable.